GREENWOOD – The Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association will induct its 20th Hall of Fame class on Sunday, April 12, at Valle Vista Golf Club in Greenwood. The reception will begin at 2 p.m., with the program beginning at 3 p.m.

Five journalists who have made their mark in Indiana and nationally will be inducted into the ISSA Hall of Fame – Bill Beck of the Elkhart Truth, Bob Jenkins of ESPN and the IMS Radio Network, Mark Morrow of the Indianapolis Star/News and now the Noblesville Times, Blake Sebring of the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel and Jason Whitlock of ESPN.

In addition, three more will be recognized as annual award winners. Bob “Slick” Leonard will be awarded the Distinguished Service Award in honor of his 30 years broadcasting the Indiana Pacers. Greg Rakestraw of WFNI-Indianapolis will be honored as the Marv Bates Indiana Sportscaster of the Year. Bob Kravitz of WTHR-Indianapolis will be honored as the Corky Lamm Indiana Sportswriter of the Year.

About The Inductees
Bill Beck is in his 26th year with the Elkhart Truth, having served as the newspaper’s sports editor since 1999. He joined the staff at his hometown paper as a correspondent in 1980 and been a fixture in Michiana sporting events since.

Bob Jenkins of Liberty, Indiana, was one of the first broadcasters hired at ESPN, and spent 27 years broadcasting all forms of auto racing for the network. He also has been the Voice of the Indianapolis 500, and is the only announcer to anchor the Indy 500, Brickyard 400 and United States Grand Prix on television.

Mark Morrow has spent 52 years in Indiana media, currently working as executive sports editor and columnist for the Noblesville Times. Twenty-five of those years were spent with The Indianapolis News and The Indianapolis Star, where he coordinated high school coverage and served as the Pacers’ beat writer, among other positions. Morrow worked for the Kokomo Tribune and the Michigan City News-Dispatch earlier in his career.

Blake Sebring joined the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel staff as a 15-year-old clerk in 1980, and has been full-time with the News-Sentinel since 1988. He is currently the newspaper’s assistant sports editor, and covers the Fort Wayne Komets. Sebring has also written seven books.

Jason Whitlock is one of the nation’s premier sports columnists, currently writing for ESPN. His work with the Kansas City Star, ESPN and other outlets has boldly addressed sensitive subjects in sports. He is a native of Indianapolis and a graduate of Ball State University.

About The Award Winners
Distinguished Service Award – Bob Leonard: Leonard was an All-American and NCAA champion as a player and a three-time ABA champion as a coach. He is a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. For the last 30 years, his enthusiastic color commentary, punctuated by a “Boom Baby!” for each 3-pointer, has been a fixture on Indiana Pacers’ broadcasts.

Marv Bates Sportscaster of the Year – Greg Rakestraw: One of the most well-known broadcast voices in central Indiana, Rakestraw runs the day-to-day operations of WFNI, the largest all-sports radio station in Indianapolis. He also is the television voice of the Indy Eleven and IUPUI basketball.

Corky Lamm Sportswriter of the Year – Bob Kravitz: One of the first reads for any central Indiana sports fan is Kravitz, whose regular columns now are published by WTHR.com after a long run at The Indianapolis Star. The Indiana University graduate’s thought-provoking and insightful commentary on a wide range of Indy-area and national sports topics have made him a go-to source.